January 2010

01/12/2010

“I am not worried about getting "Jennifer Aniston shoulders." My difficulty is much more basic. I hate to exercise. It's just an exertion for me to walk. (No judgements, please.) I know I *should *exercise, and I'd like to get to the place where it's easier, and therefore more enjoyable. Any suggestions?”

First, let me tell you that I have been where you are. And so have a lot of people. Many just do it and still hate it, every day because they have a compelling reason to do so. If you are an actress and you must be in shape to get paid and get more work, you’ll just “grind it out” every day.

If it’s just an exertion to walk at this point, then start out by just breathing. Joshua talks about this in the Point of No Return Program. The most important goal for you is to start doing something. Anything. If it’s breathing right now, then that’s what you’ll do. Set aside just 5 minutes to breathe in the oxygen and breathe out. And he says if you can’t breathe, well, then you have a problem. LOL.

I want you to think about any kind of sport or movement you liked doing when you were younger or at a different time in your life. It doesn’t have to be an organized sport. Maybe you liked being in the ocean or feeling the hot sand on your feet or making a sand castle.

Maybe you liked going out first thing in the snow and just breathing in the cold air and plopping down to make a snow angel. Maybe you were an “inside cat” and preferred to listen to music and feel the rhythm. Maybe you like shopping which involves quite a bit of walking in and out of stores.

I want you to jot down any forms of movement that you have enjoyed in the past and describe what it was. Was it alone? Were you with a friend or family member? And I want you to make a commitment to do this for just 5 minutes this week. Besides, if you love the experience, you’ll want to do it again and again. Find the movement that you love to do. That’s how you make exercise enjoyable.

01/09/2010

The first part of this email is kind of funny so I left it in. Many people are surprised that I actually read and answer the emails sent to us. It takes work, which is why I am now answering as many of these questions in blog format. If one person has a certain question, odds are a million others have the same one as well. Makes sense to have everyone see the response and also give you a format to add input or ask a question right on this blog post.

Here is the question:

"....I don't know if this is a joke, the part where you ask to answer you back, I highly doubt that you'll answer back and that's why I hadn't done it, but what the heck...

what is the next step you are willing to take that you have not yet?

I am willing to give up whatever that is stopping me from losing the weight that I want to lose (sodas, candy,& junk food,)...I mean I know it's hard but I know I can do it, I've done it before.., and am also willing to exersice 1hour everyday, but it's not as easy, because I usually get bored and sleepy...

*sigh* why does it have to be so hard? and why is it that I don't have the willpower to do it? I am extremely not the girl I used to be, not even a piece of her, now i feel ugly, self-consious, and just sad......can u help me?? :( "

It’s so hard when you can’t see who you are anymore and you’re frustrated with who you are now. It is hard but you do have the willpower. You just have to access it. I’m certain that you are disciplined and demonstrate willpower in other areas of your life and it’s time to make the decision that the current life you are living is intolerable.

Until you decide that this is intolerable, you will continue to be frustrated. Making the decision is so much of the struggle. Many goal and motivation gurus guide you to ask yourself this question: If you continue on this path, where will you be in 20 years? Sometimes, just picturing yourself this way 20 years out can make you so disgusted that you make the decision right then. No one is going to do this for you. You have to do if for yourself.

Three things:

1. I just wrote this in the PONR coaching team and I think it’s important to write here. Studies have shown that when it comes to getting to the weight you want, the equation looks like this: 25% is working out and 75% is your food choices. Based on everyone's success I've seen on PEERtrainer, I have to agree with it. This is no way suggests that working out is not important and does not diminish the results and health benefits of working out but I want you to really focus on the food part of the equation if you feel like you're on a plateau or having trouble getting to where you want to go. So I want you to focus on adding one good habit. Get rid of one thing that is “tripping you up” like chocolate or potato chips or something else food wise that you know will help you.

2. If you’re not already doing this, I want you to get a scale and start monitoring your progress. This is not a “nice to have” suggestion. This is a must do. Every week, at the same time, monitor your progress.

3. One of the best tools you have when you’re starting out is to log your food and become familiar with the weight watchers points system. Understanding portion control and portion sizes, what is the reality of how much food you’ve been eating is KEY. Many PEERtrainers are surprised when they actually come to grips with reality and with that comes tremendous hope because they can finally do something about it.

"Here is the one thing I really need to focus on: not to eat
anything--and I mean
anything!--after, say, 7:00 p.m. Chewing gum, drinking teas or waters are
fine, but
that is about it. The craving for something--usually salty--often hits me
around
10:00. This is my problem and is the absolute worst time of day to eat
anything.

Of course on the rare occasion when I manage to ignore the desire and just
go to
bed, when I wake up in the morning I am, of course, not at all hungry nor do
I much
feel like eating at all (though I do, of course). Just proves that this
desire to
eat at night is in the realm of cravings and not real hunger. So this is
where I
stumble and where I will try to focus for the next 7 days."

Eating at night is the number one response when I ask ‘what trips you up’ in the first email of our coaching program. People do ‘great all day and mess up at night’. Next time you want to eat everything in sight after 7, I want you to ask yourself three questions:

1. Am I just tired and need to go to bed?

2. Did I eat a lot of sugar or simple carbohydrates like pasta and bread today which are causing me to feel withdrawl?

3. Is there something that is gnawing at me, something I’m worried about that I don’t want to deal with?

And when it’s not the evening, when you’re in a relaxed or great mood, I want you think about the days you’ve been insatiable at night and identify a few patterns there. In our free “emotional eating program” (http://www.peertrainer.com/emotional_eating_program.aspx), in the first call, we ask you what you might be replacing or avoiding.

I do understand that this is all great advice but when you feel overwhelmed it all goes out the window and you just want to eat, eat eat. If you’re having a snack, make sure the ratios are 30/30/40, protein/fat/carb respectively to be satitated. A good example is hummus with cucumbers and tomato. Or some avocado with black beans and salsa. Make sure it’s on hand and you don’t have to spend a lot of time ‘making something’.

This is another great response from a PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day member. We asked what the next step they were willing to take. This person had a hard time until they took a long bath, which is a great idea anytime you feel stuck.

"I have truly been thinking about his all day and was having a hard time
coming up with something. I feel I have done well on my choice of changes and that I
am
working hard on implementing them into my everyday life.

Certainly there
are other
changes I can think of that would be nice to make, but to be realistic and
honest
with myself as to what I will really do vs. what all I would like to do, I
can't
think of anything else to add to my change list. Until, I took a bath
tonight.

I
was breathing in the steam and it came to me...I have missed doing yoga. I
am
willing to implement yoga into my life again. I will start with one day a
week.
When I have my operation, I will still be able to work on breathing and
maybe some
really simple poses. I am excited to start this again. My start date will
be
Monday. This will feel good and be good for me.
Thanks for the boost to move forward."

This is the best decision. It increases flexibility and range of motion. You have improved circulation. Helps to keep muscles warm and speeds recovery after an injury. It promotes better posture. This keeps muscles from getting tight, minimizing everyday aches and pains. But that does not even begin to describe the euphoria you get after practice. It just makes you feel good. I’m excited for you too!

We are asking our PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day members where they are right now in their weight loss journey and what is the next step they are willing to take that they have not yet. This is important because while your long term goals and objectives are important, the only thing that really matters is that are you willing to do right now, as an immediate next step.

By asking people this question we got an avalanche of responses, and it seems as if this simple question provided lots of immediate motivation. This response about cutting down on portion size is a great opportunity to bring up something that I often say directly to people:

"I am willing to cut down my portions and have been doing that the last
couple of
weeks....it is difficult!
Hopefully gets easier with time!"

It’s hard to cut down on something when you don’t replace it with something else. It’s like breaking up with a boyfriend and month after month, you don’t have a new date to look forward to so you keep dreaming about your old boyfriend and many times, you try to go back to him. If you’re cutting down your portions of let’s say lasagna, pick a replacement. Add vegetable soup, like a minestrone.

My only rule here is you must add something healthy but it must be something you like. Going out on a new date with a total bore will only make you dream about your old boyfriend more. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be something you enjoy the taste of. Many people have success on PEERtrainer by committing to adding just one vegetable per meal. Make the decision to add an apple or blueberries or grapefruit to every breakfast, and add a salad or soup to every lunch and dinner. Don’t cut down without replacing and adding on. Let me know what you decide to add.

-Jackie

ps- for those of you who want to make a massive leap towards their goal, definitely check our our coaching program. Some people are at a place where they want to take things one step at a time, others are ready to dive right in. The key is that you have to be really ready. If you are not truly prepared to "decide", you will not be successful with our big program:

We are asking our PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day members where they are right now in their weight loss journey and what is the next step they are willing to take that they have not yet. This is important because while your long term goals and objectives are important, the only thing that really matters is that are you willing to do right now, as an immediate next step.

By asking people this question we got an avalanche of responses, and it seems as if this simple question provided lots of immediate motivation.

"I am willing to start walking most days. That seems too simple to even state, but I have found so many ways to obstruct a daily walking routine. I am willing to walk 5 days a week. That will be my new "willing to do."

This is a great decision. Walking can clear your mind and help you process and ruminating thoughts that might be bringing you down. So many people have lost upwards of 30 pounds just by the one decision of incorporating a 30 minute walk every day. And there is a health benefit by the simple motion of your arms swinging in the rhythmic way that they do when you’re at a nice pace.

The best part is that you don’t need special shoes or a specific path. Just get out there and make sure that the second an excuse pops in your head of why you can’t go right now, just answer back, yes, right now and walk out the door. One of my friend’s mom used to always say, “Change your space, change your mind.”

ps- for those of you who want to make a massive leap towards their goal, definitely check our our coaching program. Some people are ready to take things one step at a time, others are ready to dive right in. The key is that you have to be really ready. If you are not truly ready, you will not be successful with our big program:

We asked our PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day readers to think about "the one thing that they were willing to do but have not yet." And then tell us their ideas. This is an excellent comment about salad dressings, and I thought this was a great time to bring up a very important point. One should aim to eat one VERY LARGE salad per day, but you need to be extremely careful about how you dress it. There are ways to have salad dressing taste great without excess oil, fat and dairy:

"The one thing that I am willing to do that I have not done yet is to measure my salad dressings. I know that sounds simple, but it's true. I adore salad, however I believe that it is the dressings like Blue Cheese, Honey Mustard, and Ranch that I really like. It often results in more dressing than salad especially when I eat at home.. Measuring is not my thing, but it needs to be. How easy it is to feel good about 'eating my greens' however it's the fat that my family table serves and glops on. I suppose my 'eye balling' is off and needs to corrected. Not just dressings, but other things too."

Nice work. 2 tablespoons (do you know how little this is?) in a normal full fat salad dressing is usually around 200 calories. If you’re piling it on, you could easily do a ladel which could be around 5 tablespoons, which is 500 calories. If you’re counting WW points, that’s 10 points and in many cases, just that salad dressing is ONE HALF of your entire recommended points for the day. Just that one salad. Correcting your “eye balling” is a major next step.

One thing I would suggest is to find a dressing that you like that isn’t cheese and cream based. Olive oil, lemon and fresh crushed garlic with a bit of salt takes about 3 minutes to make and it’s delicious. I know some people who love just a bit of olive oil and squeeze lemon directly on the salad.

Another idea is using a quarter of an avocado mixed in as your ‘dressing”. You can combine with lime or lemon to make it go further and then you have a totally plant based fat. Ginger miso dressing can be delicious as well. I’ve seen some PEERtrainers love balsamic mixed with olive oil. When you try new things, your mind no longer has a specific expectation of “this will only taste good if I “glop” it on!”. Let me know what you try!